King of Prussia baby kidnapper mired in gambling debt

Raghunandan Yandamuri is lead into D.J. Gallaghers court for his preliminary hearing in Bridgeport Wednesday November 28, 2012. Yandamuri is charged with first and second-degree murder, kidnapping, robbery, theft and abuse of corpse in connection with the murders of 10 month old Saanvi Venna and her grandmother Satayvathi Venna. Photo by Gene Walsh / Times Herald Staff

BRIDGEPORT — A young man mired in gambling debt told police he killed a 10-month-old girl and her grandmother during a botched kidnapping last month after losing at least $15,000 at a casino near his office.

Raghunandan Yandamuri, 26, knew the family from his apartment complex. Like him, the baby’s parents were young technology professionals from India. He had gone to the wife’s birthday party, met the visiting grandmother and — tellingly — used family nicknames for the parents in a ransom note demanding $50,000.

“They both are working, so I thought maybe they have some money,” Yandamuri told police in a videotaped statement played at his preliminary hearing Wednesday, when a Montgomery County judge ordered him to stand trial on murder, kidnapping and other charges.

“My intention was not to kill anyone or not to harm anyone,” he said. “I only tried to kidnap the baby.”

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Yandamuri told investigators he panicked after the grandmother, who had opened the apartment door to him on Oct. 22, was killed in a struggle over a kitchen knife he had brought.

He accidentally dropped the baby, put a handkerchief over her mouth to quiet her and tied a towel around her head, he told police. He then left the infant — with her dark hair, huge dark eyes and white dress — in a trash-strewn, unused sauna in a basement fitness center, he said.

He said he returned hours later with milk for her, but found her “unconscious” and threw the drink away.

Police noticed the ransom note used family nicknames only a friend would know. He was arrested days later after police canvassed the building looking for those who knew the couple.

Venkata Venna, and his wife, Chenchu Latha Punuruss, did not know of anyone with a grudge against them. They are both software engineers who came to the U.S. in 2007.

They had left for work about 8 a.m. that Monday, leaving their only child with Venna’s mother, who was visiting from India. Venna raced home at 12:30 p.m. after his wife called to say his mother wasn’t answering the phone.

He found his mother, 61-year-old Satyavathi Venna, in a pool of blood in the kitchen, and moments later realized his baby was missing.

Yandamuri worked in information technology for GSI Commerce Inc., a company that builds e-commerce sites for other businesses. Its office in King of Prussia, Pa., is less than a mile from the Valley Forge Casino Resort.

When asked by police if he had a gambling problem, he replied “a bit.”

“Last week I lost $15,000 to $20,000, but last month I won $20,000,” he said on the videotape.

He said he had cleared most of his debts through a recent bankruptcy filing in California, and owed less than $5,000, as well as an unspecified amount to a friend stemming from Yandamuri’s wedding.

Yandamuri’s wife has returned to India since his arrest, defense lawyer Stephen Heckman said.

Heckman argued unsuccessfully to have the first-degree murder charges dismissed, saying his client lacked the intent to kill required for a conviction. However, a district judge sent first-degree murder, felony murder and other charges to trial, saying prosecutors had enough evidence to try Yandamuri.

Heckman said he hopes to help his client avoid the death penalty, which is under consideration by prosecutors.

“I’ll have to talk to my client and see what he wants to do,” Heckman said. “He was very sorry for what happened.”

Kevin Steele, first assistant district attorney of Montgomery County, called the murders “vicious.”